Sophomore OH Adrianna Stasiuk has had 20+ digs on four occasions this season after having not done that at all last season.

Top GPA On Record Boosts Irish To Game Plan/AVCA Team Academic Award

Aug. 5, 2005

The University of Notre Dame women’s volleyball team posted its highest grade-point average on record for an academic year in 2004-05 and was rewarded as a recipient of a Game Plan/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award, it was announced today. The Irish, who had a team GPA of 3.362, were one of just four Division I squads to earn the Team Academic Award and also win at least one match in the 2004 NCAA Championship.

The AVCA Team Academic Award honors college and high-school teams that display excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team GPA on a 4.0 scale. Notre Dame was one of 45 Division I programs to be so recognized this season, while 274 overall (including 126 prep squads) earned the award, the second-highest total in the program’s 13-year history. The Irish previously copped the honor in 2001-02 and 2002-03.

Other than the Irish, only Kansas State, Ohio, and Wichita State gained the Team Academic Award and advanced at least to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Three recipients (College of Charleston, Illinois, Valparaiso) fell in the opening round of the NCAAs. Three other BIG EAST Conference members – Cincinnati, Seton Hall, and Villanova – gained the distinction, while BYU and Valparaiso were the lone non-conference opponents the Irish faced last season that were on the list.

Leading the way academically for the Irish was senior OH Leah Nedderman, who posted a fall grade-point average of 3.933 before notching a perfect 4.000 in the spring to graduate as an English and sociology double major with a 3.967 GPA. In all, eight of Notre Dame’s 14 players turned in a GPA over 3.400 for the 2004-05 year. Other academic standouts included sophomore OH/MB Julie McElroy (3.792, business), seniors DS Kelly Corbett (3.750, marketing & sociology) and OPP/MB Emily Loomis (3.709, design & sociology), freshmen MB/OPP Laura Bresnahan (3.634) and OPP/OH Adrianna Stasiuk (3.605), and OH Ellen Heintzman (3.499), as well as junior MB Lauren Brewster (3.417, marketing & sociology).

Notre Dame returns nine of its top 10 players from last year’s team that was 21-9, won both the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles, and earned a 13th consecutive invitation to the NCAA Championship, falling in the second round. The Irish will begin the 2005 campaign on Saturday, Aug. 27 by playing host to rival Michigan at 7 p.m. (EST/CDT) in the Joyce Center.